Port Fairy to Warrnambool Rail Trail

Last updated

The former Koroit Station building, halfway along the rail trail. Koroit Station Stevage.jpg
The former Koroit Station building, halfway along the rail trail.

The Port Fairy - Warrnambool Rail Trail is a 37 kilometre rail trail in southwestern Victoria, Australia. The official opening of the trail took place on 31 May 2012 at the Koroit Railway station building. [1]

The trail begins in Port Fairy, running north then east through Koroit where it turns back southeast to Warrnambool. About two thirds is within Moyne Shire and one third within Warrnambool City. The overall construction cost of the project was approximately $2.2 million. [2]

The trail from Port Fairy to Illowa follows the path of a former branch line which ran from Port Fairy to Warrnambool and connected with the Melbourne-Ararat line, via Hamilton. This branch line was commissioned in 1884, completed in 1890. It served primarily to connect the ports of Warrnambool and Port Fairy with destinations inland. With declining port usage, the line closed in 1977. [3]

The trail from Illowa to Warrnambool is not on the former rail track alignment, as that section of the rail reservation has been utilized for a realignment of the Princes Highway. Instead, from Lane's Lane to Millers Lane, the trail follows the old alignment of the Princess Highway (now called Illowa Road) for several kilometres on a dedicated bicycle lane beside the roadway. The bicycle lane has been fenced off to provide greater safety. From the end of Millers Lane, the trail continues south off-road across Kelly's Swamp, then east parallel to the coast to Levy's Point. From there, the trail largely follows the cutting of the Merri River virtually all the way to the end of the trail at the Warrnambool Breakwater. [4]

Map of Port Fairy to Warrnambool Rail Trail.png

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Transportation engineering</span> Academic discipline and occupational field

Transportation engineering or transport engineering is the application of technology and scientific principles to the planning, functional design, operation and management of facilities for any mode of transportation in order to provide for the safe, efficient, rapid, comfortable, convenient, economical, and environmentally compatible movement of people and goods transport.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Shire of Moyne</span> Local government area in Victoria, Australia

The Shire of Moyne is a local government area in the Barwon South West region of Victoria, Australia, located in the south-western part of the state. It covers an area of 5,481 square kilometres (2,116 sq mi) and in June 2018 had a population of 16,887. It includes the towns of Port Fairy, Koroit, Mortlake, Macarthur, Peterborough, Caramut, Ellerslie, Framlingham, Garvoc, Hawkesdale, Kirkstall, Panmure, Mailors Flat, Purnim, Wangoom and Woolsthorpe. It also entirely surrounds the City of Warrnambool, a separate local government area. It was formed in 1994 from the amalgamation of the Shire of Belfast, Shire of Minhamite, Borough of Port Fairy, and parts of the Shire of Mortlake, Shire of Warrnambool, Shire of Dundas, Shire of Mount Rouse and Shire of Hampden.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Warrnambool</span> City in Victoria, Australia

Warrnambool is a city on the south-western coast of Victoria, Australia. At the 2021 census, Warrnambool had a population of 35,743. Situated on the Princes Highway, Warrnambool (Allansford) marks the western end of the Great Ocean Road and the southern end of the Hopkins Highway.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Koroit</span> Town in Victoria, Australia

Koroit is a small rural town in western Victoria, Australia a few kilometres north of the Princes Highway, 18 kilometres (11 mi) north-west of Warrnambool and 272 kilometres (169 mi) west of Melbourne. It is in the Shire of Moyne local government area located amidst rolling green pastures on the north rim of Tower Hill. At the 2016 census, Koroit had a population of 2,055. The town borrows its name from the Koroitch Gundidj people who occupied the area prior to European colonisation.

The Warrnambool line is a regional passenger rail service operated by V/Line in Victoria, Australia. It serves passengers between the state capital, Melbourne, and the regional city of Warrnambool.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Warrnambool railway station</span> Railway station in Victoria, Australia

Warrnambool railway station is the terminus of the Warrnambool line in Victoria, Australia. It serves the city of Warrnambool, and it opened on 4 February 1890.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lilydale to Warburton Rail Trail</span>

The Lilydale to Warburton Rail Trail is a walking, cycling and horse-riding track in eastern Victoria, Australia. It runs a distance of 38 km between Lilydale and Warburton, along the former Warburton railway line. A section between Corduroy Road in Yarra Junction and Warburton is also known as the Centenary Trail.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Great Southern Rail Trail</span>

The Great Southern Rail Trail is a 109-kilometre rail trail from Nyora to Welshpool in South Gippsland, Victoria, Australia. Sections of the trail are flat or gently undulating trail through lush dairy farmland, areas of remnant bush and lowland scrub. There is a big climb on the section between Loch and Leongatha. The section between Fish Creek and Foster climbs past Mount Hoddle and goes through dense forest with occasional magnificent views of Wilsons Promontory and Corner Inlet.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lebanon Countryside Trail</span>

The Lebanon Countryside Trail is a rail trail in Ohio.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Transportation in St. Louis</span>

Transportation in Greater St. Louis, Missouri includes road, rail, ship, and air transportation modes connecting the bi-state St. Louis metropolitan area with surrounding communities throughout the Midwest, national transportation networks, and international locations. The Greater St. Louis region also supports a multi-modal transportation network that includes bus, paratransit, and light rail service in addition to shared-use paths, bike lanes and greenways.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Transportation in Halifax, Nova Scotia</span>

Transport in Halifax, Nova Scotia consists of a variety of modes.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Airport Loop</span>

Airport Loop is the designation for the portions of state highways that form a circumferential highway around Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport in Anne Arundel County in the U.S. state of Maryland. The loop runs 8.44 miles (13.58 km) through the communities of Linthicum, Ferndale, and Hanover. Airport Loop consists of a 3.47-mile (5.58 km) section of Maryland Route 170 (MD 170) along the western and northern sides of the loop; the entire 2.31-mile (3.72 km) length of MD 162 on the eastern side of the loop; and a 2.66-mile (4.28 km) segment of MD 176 on the southern side of the loop. Airport Loop intersects Interstate 195 (I-195), which provides freeway access to the airport terminal, and is connected to I-695, I-97, and MD 100 via connecting highways. The MD 170 and MD 162 sections of Airport Loop are part of the National Highway System.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mullum Mullum Creek Trail</span>

The Mullum Mullum Creek Trail is a shared use path for cyclists and pedestrians, which follows Mullum Mullum Creek in the outer eastern suburbs in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Shire of Warrnambool</span> Local government area in Victoria, Australia

The Shire of Warrnambool was a local government area located about 260 kilometres (162 mi) west-southwest of Melbourne, the state capital of Victoria, Australia. The shire covered an area of 1,605 square kilometres (619.7 sq mi), and existed from 1854 until 1994.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Warrnambool railway line</span> Railway line in Victoria, Australia

The Warrnambool railway line is a railway serving the south west of Victoria, Australia. Running from the western Melbourne suburb of Newport through the cities of Geelong and Warrnambool, the line once terminated at the coastal town of Port Fairy before being truncated to Dennington. This closed section of line has been converted into the 37 km long Port Fairy to Warrnambool Rail Trail. The line continues to see both passenger and freight services today.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Port Fairy to Warrnambool Important Bird Area</span>

The Port Fairy to Warrnambool Important Bird Area comprises a 14 km2 strip of coastal land lying between the town of Port Fairy to the west and the regional city of Warrnambool to the east, in south-western Victoria, Australia.

Kirkstall, located in southwest Victoria, Australia, 5 kilometres from Koroit, is in the heart of the traditional lands of the local Aboriginal people; the Gunditjmara. On Monday 25 February 1861, Kirkstall was officially proclaimed a township by the then Governor of the Colony of Victoria, Sir Henry Barkly. On 25 February 2011, the town celebrated its 150th anniversary.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Camperdown-Timboon Rail Trail</span>

The Camperdown-Timboon Rail Trail is a rail trail running along the former route of the Timboon railway line, from Camperdown to Timboon in Victoria's southwest.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jones Falls Trail</span> Hiking and bicycling trail in Baltimore, Maryland, United States

Jones Falls Trail is a hiking and bicycling trail in Baltimore, Maryland. It mostly runs along the length of the namesake Jones Falls, a major north–south stream in and north of the city that has long acted as a major transportation corridor for the city. It also incorporates the bike path encircling Druid Hill Reservoir and its namesake park. The Jones Falls Trail forms a segment of the East Coast Greenway, a partially completed network of off-road bicycling routes that runs the length of the East Coast.

The Hamilton-Koroit Line was a branch line running south west from the Portland Main Line at Coleraine Junction near the town of Hamilton, to the town of Koroit, where it joined the Port Fairy line. Opening in 1890, the line was 84 kilometers long and entirely single track apart from at stations. Since the closure of the line in 1977, the track has been removed and the rail reserve mostly sold as well, with very little trace of railway left.

References

  1. "Home". portfairytowarrnamboolrailtrail.com.au.
  2. http://www.portfairytowarrnamboolrailtrail.com/Port-Fairy-to-Warrnambool-Rail-Trail_about-us.htm
  3. "Home". portfairytowarrnamboolrailtrail.com.
  4. http://www.portfairytowarrnamboolrailtrail.com/documents/RailTrailMap_000.pdf [ bare URL PDF ]

Coordinates: 38°17′17″S142°21′19″E / 38.28806°S 142.35528°E / -38.28806; 142.35528